Qualcomm continued its strong growth in the semiconductor market through its system-on-chip (SoC) and baseband products, helping the firm to post bumper first quarter fiscal 2013 results. The firm announced revenues of $6bn, up 29 percent from the same period a year ago, while profits grew by 36 percent to $1.9bn.

The firm said it shipped 182 million MSM SoCs during the quarter, an increase of 17 percent from the first quarter last year, and claimed that the average selling prices of 3G and 4G devices that sported its chips were between $224 and $230 per unit. The firm also touted cash and cash equivalent assets of $28.4bn with 18 percent of its revenues being spent on research and development.

Qualcomm chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs said, "We are pleased to report record quarterly revenues, Non-GAAP EPS and MSM chip shipments, driven by the growing global demand for smartphones and our industry-leading portfolio of 3G/LTE chipsets. Our broad licensing partnerships and extensive chipset roadmap, including our recently announced best-in-class Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and 600 processors, position us well for strong growth, and we are pleased to be raising our revenue and earnings guidance for fiscal 2013."

Qualcomm showed off its next generation Snapdragon 800 chips at CES during Jacobs' first appearance keynoting the trade show, however it isn't clear when handsets using the SoC will be released. Nevertheless, the firm's impressive financial results coupled with important production wins in smartphones and tablets means the firm continues to be one of the hottest properties in the semiconductor industry, just as ARM chips are starting to enter the lucrative server market. µ